BELTON, Texas – Making its Division III NCAA Softball Tournament debut, St. Thomas dropped a tight 2-0 decision to host Mary Hardin-Baylor on Thursday afternoon at Dee Dillion Field in opening round action.
UMHB scored a run in both the third and fourth innings, backed by a complete game three-hitter performance from Grason Long as the Cru advanced to the regional semifinal on Friday.
Long improved to 17-4 on the year in tossing her 13th complete game of the season. Offensively, Lindsey Polleschultz led UMHB’s offense, going 3-for-4 at the dish and delivering the key insurance RBI in the fourth.
Jaelyn Simmons, Hailey Jackson and Kayleigh Deakle accounted for the three Celts hits on the afternoon. Bailey Tisdale was credited with the tough luck loss after tossing 3.2 innings and allowing just one earned run.
St. Thomas finished the game with two errors and left four runners on base. UMHB held an 8-3 advantage in hits.
The Celts will now face Rosemont College tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. CT in an elimination game.
